Lucienne Day Block

This was a tough one. I found Yahaira's inspiration very inspirational. In fact, I didn't know where to start. I also found myself wanting to make an entire quilt as opposed to one block. In fact, I will definitely be making a quilt inspired by Lucienne Day one of these days. So much eye candy.

One of the best things for me was searching for more images. When you see the designs in context you see the scale of them. I loved that. These aren't quiet designs. They are large and bold.

Thank-you Yahaira, for pointing me, us, in this direction.

My Beatnik Quilt

Cheers all! Here are my blocks so far! I'm going to get working on this soon! I'd love to see progress shots of your quilts as well... Robin

Block for Blair

I had a lot of fun putting this block together...perhaps too much fun as it is not the appropriate dimensions and I'm out of fabric. Ruh-roh. Well, I have faith that you, Blair, can figure out a way to work it into your quilt top or just slap it on the back!

Fireplace block for Blair

I love the wonderful horizontal lines in Blair's inspiration fireplaces.   This block is already on its way to you, Blair!

I can't wait to see how you put them all together!

a lucienne day quilt

sorry for the delay in my post! I was up against migraines, last minute projects, and blogger outages. it also took me a while to figure out how much fabric to send (hopefully I sent out enough!).

I went back and forth on what I wanted this quilt to look like. after looking at way too many websites, lucienne day's prints kept calling to me. I love her use of shapes and pattern repeats. they are a little quirky, unexpected, and still very modern. all features I want in a quilt.
I'm sending everyone a selection of solids. there will either be a brown or grey fat quarter in your stack, please use this for your background. I'm keeping things a little vague because I want to see your interpretation of these shapes and, almost, random patterns. I would like 20" blocks with shapes floating about. you can use whatever techniques you'd like. have fun with this!
if I didn't send enough fabric let me know and I can try to find more in the stash. or you are welcome to add any solid scraps you have that you think work with these colors.

Block a palooza!

I know this isn't how it's supposed to go. I'm hanging my head in shame to be so behind, but here are a bunch of blocks to help me get caught up! Yippee. I hope you all like them and will forgive my tardiness.

For Blair...fab fabrics...loved the inspiration!
For Robin....I wanted to be a bit looser with these...I hope they're free enough for you.
For Rebekah...ah my fav shapes!
For Debbie...I tried to go not so literal with the house.

Lauren, I can't find the instructions for your block???

mid century bricks

I LOVE the colors you sent blair! I may need to make a quilt for myself in the same palette.

Beatnik Block

It took me a while to settle on a plan for this, but I enjoyed the challenge!
I hope you like the result!  The block is a bit bigger than what you asked for, Robin, but I'm thinking you can either work with it or find the best way to cut into it.

Block for Rebekah

I put this on my blog yesterday, but didn't have time to post here.  I enjoyed making this block as it gave me the chance to do two things I don't often do.

I have wanted to experiment with using a line of satin stitching as a design element for quite a while and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. 

As some of you know, improvisation is not my strong point - it is not my default position.  However, I don't know how to draw the shape that Rebekah wanted with any of the programs on my computer, so there was no way to make nice, neat templates :)  So, I cut the shapes free-hand, knowing that you all are not sticklers for perfection.  I hope the results work well for you, Rebekah!

Next up, Mondrian inspired for Robin.

curvy blocks

guys! I'm all caught up!! I finished Rebekah's block last night and mailed all three blocks I've finished this morning.

I was tempted to cut into this block and add some lines going through it, but then I was scared you would hate it. I also left it a little bigger than 14x14" so you could square it up how you like.

kelp strip

didn't mean to post two separate posts today, but I had to get a good photo of this panel. it's hard when you are a shorty!

I hope I didn't delay your quilt too much rossie. it was so much fun working on it. the fabric you dyed is gorgeous! I kept thinking it was orange, then rust, then pumpkin, well you get the idea. also, I keep seeing a laser shooter and not kelp....but that could be all the video games I've been playing affecting me :)

mosaic for robin

robin, I hope everything is ok where you live this morning and that you and your family are safe!

I had fun working on this block for you, I love shot cottons so much! I kinda went in without a plan (seems to be my theme for this bee), so hopefully the block still works for you. not sure if it's groovy enough, but I kept everything pretty natural with no forced wonkyness. I just have to pack the block and scraps for you and it'll be headed your way!

Catch-up.

Yesterday was block making day. Today was block shipping day. Tomorrow will be block-fabric packing day.
I am determined to fit the last five months of bee-ness into 3 days.
So, to all of you who are waiting on blocks from me, THEY ARE COMING, and I have photographic proof, and I apologize for being such a late jerk, and thank you for your patience.
PROOF:for Amanda
for Debbie
for Rebekah
and for Robin.
I'm going to include a little commercial here: Several of these blocks required quite a few pieced curves, which, a week ago, I had never done. If this is something you do often, and you have a Bernina, GO AND BUY THIS FOOT: It's called the leather roller foot, and it isn't cheap ($70 ish?), but it is so, so worth it. You can turn on a dime, it's a ton of fun for doing quilting, and when doing pieced curves, it is BRILLIANT. I don't think I pinned anything more than in the middle-- since it takes absolutely no effort to turn the fabric, you can concentrate completely on keeping the edges together and don't need to worry about the angle. I really can't imagine doing this stuff with a regular foot, this makes it so fast and easy.
Ok, commercial over, and I should mention that I have absolutely no affiliation with Bernina, just wanted to share.

I'll be back tomorrow with my inspiration and concept for my quilt blocks!

Block for Rebekah

I'm trying to catch up while I'm on "spring" break. I hope this block works for you, Rebekah! It was a challenge to work on--I think I need to take a workshop on curved piecing as I'm sure I did this the hard way!

1950s Fashion Print

Last fall,  I bought V&A Pattern: The Fifties. This gem, while quite small,  is full of beautiful images. I like it a lot, particularly because I'm so fond of Lucienne Day's work and there are quite a few images of her textile designs in there.

I must have bought that first book at Amazon.com, because they recommended this newly released book 1950s Fashion Print to me.  When this book first arrived and I flipped through it, I was a little disappointed as many of the images do nothing for me:

But, some of the images are just lovely:

And of course, Lucienne Day has a good showing:

Unlike V&A Pattern: The Fifties, which contains minimal text, 1950s Fashion Print is at least as much about the text as the images.  As such, it wasn't until I sat down to read the book that I realized the true worth of this book.

"Interest lay in the plant skeleton rather than the bloom, seed heads rather than the blossom, and leafless trees rather than foliage"  (Fogg, 2011, p. 8).  

Yes, yes, yes!  I've been slowly making my way through the book, really enjoying myself.  I have found it really useful to have the internet at hand while reading because Fogg often makes reference to different designers, artists, and such without providing representative images of their work.  I'm sure this is in order to keep the cost of the book down, but it is useful to have a picture of the Skylon  available when Fogg is going on about its pervasive influence.  Google Images to the rescue!

Anyway, if you are able to buy or borrow this book, I'd recommend it...inspiration awaits!

Mondrian's Nephew was a Beatnik

Okay ladies, It's my turn to host and I've got something that looks difficult, but once you get started you will find it's suuper easy and fun! The thing to keep in mind is shot cottons are very easy to work with and in the end they will all look fabulous togeter! I'll send the instructions with the fabric, but in case you can't wait to see what I have in store, here is the assignment (click on it to enlarge):

A Block for Rebekah

Hi Rebekah! I've finished your block! No, it's not this one... this one is tooo boring!

For you, I reworked my block and made you this... which is juuuust right! Hope you like it! Cheers!

Block for Esch

This is based on the roofline and stairs of my parents' home; or, as we affectionately call it, the "very brady ski chalet."

I'm not sure it makes a very interesting block all on its own, but I think once it gets put in with the others, it will work really well.

architectural block for Debbie

This one had me stumped for a little while but I sat down last night excited to experiment with some bricks (which I think was in your original sketch, Debbie). I'm loving the effect... hope the end result plays nice with the other blocks!

lines and curves

I'll admit that I kept pushing this block back because I was intimidated by the challenge. but at the same time I loved the challenge. isn't that what bees are about?

I made my own little challenge by cutting everything freehand (no rulers!, no measuring!) which may have made my curves a little too subtle. you can probably see my progression from left to right! finally got it on the last one!!

Amanda's chevron

I just realized that I posted pics of Amanda's chevron on my blog and Flickr, but forgot to post it here!  It was a fun challenge!
I originally intended the right side of the chevron to be fatter than the left, but had to decide on fat or curve, so I chose curve.  Hope you like it, Amanda!

my other blocks

jess's and amanda's blocks have been out of my hands for a while, but I never got to post them here. I had no hard plans for either, which made for interesting piecing.

mid mod house

I'm slowly going through all the bee block fabric I received a couple of months ago. I have three blocks done, two more to go. Maybe I'll get them done before the next stack of fabric makes it my way. All the snow this week is sure to help!

I worked on debbie's block yesterday, though I've had a highly detailed sketch since I read the original post ;)

I took inspiration from one of the gallery photos, "building" a house with a colorful door and a garage with a window over it. I did worry that my block is too literal and not outlined enough. if it isn't let me know and I can make another one!

Swooping Chevron

I wanted to make a swooping chevron, so I went with curves. All was going along swimmingly until that one curve...so I tried again, and again. Third time must be the charm, but honestly it's still a little wacky. I pressed the hell out of it. That's my go to solution when something doesn't go my way.
I hope it'll lay flat for you Amanda. And thank you for sending such a generous amount of fabric. I needed every inch. I appreciate being able to screw up and still be able to finish a block.
Next block is on the cutting table. I'm hoping it's it the mail before Rebekah's fabric arrives.

blocks for January

I am finally starting to get on the ball with my month! It took me quite a while to come up with a concept, but I think it's ready for the group now.

Here are my main inspiration pieces:

Here are the details for the blocks:
1. Final block size: 14”x14”
2. Use the brown or turquoise fabric as the base/main color fabric
3. Use any combination of the remaining fabric for the block (feel free to add your own prints as an accent if you have any that match)
4. Any piecing/applique technique is fine.
5. Include at least one rounded and hollowed out square/rectangle in the block

I'm going to be combining these 10 blocks into a quilt for our master bedroom. I can't wait to see what you all create!

Barkcloth for Cheryl

I'm busy catching up. First, Cheryl. I love barkcloth too, so narrowing down the inspiration was hard, but I picked the shapes I loved and went for it.

First, I pieced in the arc shapes, then I let Cheryl's background fabric lead me and I went with that Philco tv shape that I'd still have in my living room if it would get a station. I fused and appliqued that. I would love to do a whole quilt of blocks like these. Thanks for the push, Cheryl. I can always count on you for that.

The hardest part was cutting the shape of the final block. I learned...I have crappy scissors that desperately need sharpening.

Frank Lloyd Wright Fabric Designs

When we started the bee the first thing I looked for were FLW designs. I must be the worst Google searcher because I totally missed any fabric that he might have designed. Then, at the Art Gallery of Alberta I found these cards.

Stunning, gorgeous, and elegant.

Suddenly I want. Especially that bottom right one. That could be a quilt so easily. It's just two blocks!